THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to initiate a criminal and vigilance probe against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and others in the Rs 7 million Solar Scam case.

Chandy's cabinet colleagues Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Aryadan Mohammed and former Congress legislators Thampanoor Ravi and Benny Behanan would also be probed in the scam that surfaced in 2013.

The decision was announced by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the weekly cabinet meeting based on the recommendations of the Solar Scam Commission report submitted by Justice (retd) G. Sivarajan in September.

The Vijayan government also decided to register a criminal case against all those whose names had appeared in a letter written by Saritha Nair in which she had complained of sexual exploitation.

Saritha Nair was prime accused in the Solar Scam case wherein a fraudulent solar energy company, Team Solar, in Kerala, used two women to create political contacts with links even to the Chief Minister's office, duped several influential people to the tune of Rs 70 million, by offering to make them business partners, or by offering to install solar power units for them, and receiving advance payments for the same.

The Sivarajan Commission also recommended registering a case against the then top police officers who probed the case.

A new special investigation team led by Director General of Police Rajesh Diwan has been set up to investigate the cases.